


Dearly Beloved

by tablelamp



Category: She Loves Me - Bock/Harnick/Masteroff
Genre: Anxiety, F/M, Letters, Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 16:37:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13080918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tablelamp/pseuds/tablelamp
Summary: It's difficult not to have a case of nerves the day of one's wedding.





	Dearly Beloved

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hilandmum](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hilandmum/gifts).



Georg was pacing the length of the living room for what he judged to be the 256th time when a voice cut into his thoughts.

"You wanted to see me?"

Georg turned, relieved that Ladislav had arrived. "Yes. Thank you." He cleared his throat. "I find I may need help."

Ladislav gave George a critical glance. "Well, for one thing, your tie is undone."

That wasn't exactly the kind of help Georg had in mind, but he was glad of any sort of distraction. "Yes, I know."

Ladislav looked nonplussed. "You could tie it."

Georg shook his head. "I really couldn't."

"You have some sort of moral objection to ties at weddings?"

Georg lifted his hands, showing Ladislav without speaking how they trembled.

Understanding passed across Ladislav's face. "Ah. May I?"

"Please," Georg said, tapping his fingers nervously against his leg as Ladislav tied his tie for him. Then Ladislav stepped back, critically examining his handiwork. "You're not leaving?" Georg couldn't hide the panic in his voice. 

"You have nothing to worry about," Ladislav said. "She loves you."

Georg nodded. "And I love her. But..." He cast an anxious glance at Ladislav. "Will it be enough?"

Ladislav nodded. "It will. And on the rare occasions when it isn't, you'll love her, so you won't notice." He reached into his jacket. "She gave me this to give to you."

Georg took the envelope, wondering who would send a letter at a time like this...and then recognizing Amalia's writing on the envelope. She'd even drawn a tiny face in the "o" in his name. He smiled, removing a sheet of the distinctive blue stationery Amalia had always used to write to him.

_Dear Friend,_

_I find I hardly know what to do or say. A thousand thoughts crowd themselves into my head all at once and then leave just as immediately. I walk into a room and forget what I wanted there; I spend ten minutes looking for the pen in my hand. The one thought that never leaves me is: today. It will happen today._

_Then I think that's not quite true. Because it has happened already. It happened when I first wrote you a letter. It happened when I first read a letter of yours. It happened as we wrote, as we promised to meet, and as we did meet. It happened all along, and will keep happening even after today. And I'm glad._

_My heart keeps fluttering in my chest as though it were trying to get out. At first I thought it was trying to escape, but now I think I know what it wants. It wants to find you. Maybe your heart is doing the same thing._

_I love you. We've said it, but I've never written it to you before. I find writing makes it feel more real. So much of us happened through writing that I need this to happen there too._

_I love you, and today my heart finds yours again._

_Your Dear Friend_

Georg turned to Ladislav. "Do you have a pen?"

Ladislav smiled and produced one from his pocket. "I thought you might want one."

***

Amalia sat, nervously toying with her hands. "Do you think it was a good idea?"

"What?" Ilona asked.

"Sending the letter." She'd always been better at writing her feelings than speaking them, but Amalia wondered if the letter would reach Georg the way she wanted it to.

"Absolutely!" Ilona said. "If there's one thing I've learned from my optometrist, it's that words can be incredibly...satisfying."

As nervous as she was, Amalia smiled at Ilona's words. "That's very true."

The soft hiss of paper against the floor captured Amalia's attention, and she whirled to see a letter making its way under the door. Amalia hurried to pick it up, hands trembling as she unfolded the stationery.

_Dear Friend,_

_My heart is fluttering today, just like yours. I'm not at all surprised; we share so much that it seems only right that we should share this. Our hearts know better than we do who it is we need._

_In just a few moments, we'll be joined together. "Together" is a wonderful word, and it feels just as it sounds--a promise._

_Together, Dear Friend. I promise._

_Your Dear Friend_

Amalia read the letter carefully, then smiled, almost hugging it to herself. She knew Georg loved her, but his letters never left any doubt.

"What does it say?" Ilona asked.

Amalia's smile widened. "That he's waiting outside." She opened the door to find Georg there, looking shy.

"Miss Balash," Georg said, "would you do me the great honor of taking a walk?" He extended his arm to her.

Amalia slipped her arm through his. "I would be glad to, Mr Nowack."

She could hear Ilona following at a discreet distance. No doubt more of their friends would join Ilona on the way to the registry office, but Georg and Amalia might as well have been alone for the notice Amalia took of anyone but Georg.

"Maybe we should have eloped," Georg said.

Amalia laughed. "Where?"

Georg looked at her with such tenderness that it stole her breath away. "Does it matter?"

"Of course it does," Amalia said lightly. "Antarctica is much too cold."

Georg smiled, clearly glad to play along. "And the Equator?"

"Much too warm."

"I suppose that means we should stay where we are," Georg said, voice tinged with mock resignation.

"I suppose," Amalia said, shrugging playfully. It was much more fun to talk with Georg now that they used their wit to delight each other rather than to attack. He was as nimble a conversation partner as he was a correspondent.

As they reached the registry office, Georg rested his hand atop hers, and when his eyes met hers, she could see exactly how nervous he was. She wondered if he saw the same anxiety in her. It was there, after all, and she didn't think she was capable of hiding it very well at the moment.

"Together, Dear Friend?" she asked him.

Georg smiled, some of his worry visibly ebbing away. "Together."

So that was how they entered the registry office--arm in arm, together.


End file.
